Folding playpen



Nov. 13, 1962 H. F. SHAW 3,063,065

FOLDING PLAYPEN Filed Sept. 19, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 22 20 54 4 H G l8 INVENTOR HAROLD E SHAW ATTORNEY Nov. 13, 1962 H. F. SHAW FOLDING PLAYPEN 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed' Sept. 19, 1961 INVENTOR HAROLD F. 8%

ATTORNEY Nov. 13, 1962 H. F. SHAW 3,0 ,065

FOLDING PLAYPEN Filed Sept. 19, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR HAROLD F. SHAW ATTORNEY .substantially continuous United States Patent 3,063,065 FOLDING PLAYPEN Harold F. Shaw, Leominster, Mass, assignor to Thayer, Inc., Gardner, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Sept. 19, 1961, Ser. No. 139,153 10 Claims. (Cl. -99) This invention relates to a new and improved folding playpen having a construction particularly adapted to the use of net side walling *and including a folding floor which is very easily foldable, in combination with a special new and improved linkage for extending the playpen to a locked, usable condition, and for folding the same to a substantially flat condition for transportation or storage.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a playpen of the class described having a twopart folding floor centrally hinged wherin each part at each end thereof is pivotally connected with respect to a leg member, the leg members in turn being swivelly mounted on a plate located at the upper end of a center standard and there being U-shaped net holding members swingably mounted on said plates, said U-shaped members, legs, and standards being connected by means of a special new and improved folding locking linkage whereby the entire playpen including the floor, legs, net, etc. is quickly and easily folded and extended. with a minimum of effort.

A' further object of the invention resides in the provision of handle means provided adjacent the center of the folding floor at either side of the dividing or hinge line thereof, the handle means being adapted for being grasped to fold the floor in a single easy and smooth upward motion; and when the playpenhas been thus folded, it may then be carried by said handle means.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a View in side elevation illustrating a form of the invention in extended condition;

G. 2 is a similar view showing the same partly folded;

FIG. folded;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the playpen, looking in the direction of arrow 4 in FIG. 1; I

FIGS. 5 and 6 are sections taken along'the respective lines 5--5 and 66 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing a modification;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but illustrating the modified form of the invention, and

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the modified form of the invention.

3 is a similar view showing the playpen fully In carrying out this invention, it is preferred that the playpen shall be of square or rectangular form and that it shall include a floor, in this case comprising two members 10 and 12, these members being centrally hinged together as at 14, 14 along a dividing line which a is indicated at 16 (FIG. 4).

' The walls of the playpen are preferably provided as t of a conventional flexible materialsuch as a net which is well known in the art and is indicated by the reference numeral 18. For purposes of illustration, this net is at times omitted from the drawing but it consists of a wall extending completely around the outside edges of the floor pieces 10 and 12 and appropriate mechanism is provided for holding .it in extended form as in FIGS. 1 and 7. Specifically, the

- net is directed under and connected to the floor members -10 and 12 at the peripheral edges of the combined floor and moves therewith and the net is also connected at its upper edge to the supporting members to be described, so that it will be seen that the net wall is held taut as in extended condition of the playpen in FIGS. 1 and 7 but folds with the members without any obstruction to the operation of the playpen to and from folded condition.

The net holding and suspending members comprise two U-shaped members which may be conveniently made of tubing. These U-shaped members are generally indicated at 20 and 22 and each includes a closed end member and a pair of legs. The legs are indicated by the reference numerals 24 and 26 and at the ends thereof they are pivotally secured to plates 28, there being one of these plates at each side of the playpen as clearly shown in FIG. 4. These plates are alike and preferably they comprise pressed metal parts which are U-shaped, the legs of which extend downwardly and include and cover the inner ends of the legs'24 and 26 as perhaps best indicated in FIG. 1. The net material has some means such a a hem which extends over the tubular members 20 and 22 to be secured thereto but it may be removable for cleaning if this should be desired.

Also pivoted to the respective plates 28, 28, and inwardly thereof, are a pair of leg members 30 and 32. These leg members are also preferably U-shaped essentially andas shownin FIG. 6 are provided with cross members at 34 which constitute the closed end of the U, each leg extending below the cross member 34 as clearly shown in FIG. 6. The member 34 may also be a rod, pipeor the like and has connected thereto means forming journals 36 which may be merely bent straps which include and rotatably encompass the rod or pipe 34, and to which the respective floor members 10 and 12 are connected. It will be seen that the respective floor members 10 and 12 may pivot about its rod 34 as an axis.

Fixedly secured to each plate 28 there is a side standard indicated at 38. The standards have a similar U- shaped construction, being connected by means of 'a cross bar 40 as seen in FIG. 5. The floor members are not connected to this cross bar but in extended condition the floor members rest on bar 40 (FIG. 5), and rise therefrom in the folding action of the playpen as will be hereinafter described.

When the floor members 10 and 12 are in their downward extended position as in FIGS. 1 and 2, they are essentially locked by being located slightly past dead center, i.e., the line at 16 is very slightly depressed below the axis of the bars 34, 34 but this does not prevent the easy and smooth folding thereof to be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, each leg 30 and 32 is pivoted as at 42, 42 to a swinging link 44, 44, these links being provided at their lower ends with elongated slots 46, 46. Links 44 overlap as clearly shown at 43. On the standard 38 there is a fixed pin 50 which engages in the two slots and constrains the links to a certain path action as defined by the slots and the remainedr of the linkage.

The legs 24, 26 of the supports 20 and 22 are provided with short links 52, 52 pivoted at 54, 54 thereto and also pivoted at their opposite ends at 56, 56 to the upper ends of the links 44, 44, and these links together act as dead center latching means for the U-shaped members 2i and 22 in the uppermost positions as shown in FIG. 1, but nevertheless these linkages are quickly and easily broken in order to fold the playpen.

Assuming that playpen is in the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the operator merely leans over the playpen inserting his fingers through the pair of apertures which are indicated at 60, 60, these apertures extending through the floor members 10 and 12 adjacent the dividing lines 16 thereof. An easy pull upwards then causes 3 the floor to break the dead center latch thereof and move upwardly at the center as indicated in FIG. 2, this action causing also breaking of the linkage at the pivot points 56 and consequent relatively downward motion of links 44, 44. Continued motion causes the floor to become fully folded with the members and 12 in vertical position and all of the elements 20, 22, and legs 30 and 32 as well as the standard 38 to come into a completely folded vertical position, depending from plates 28. In this condition, the two handholds 60, 60 come together within the folded framework and the playpen is then easily carried by means of these same handholds in conjunction one with the other.

To extend the now folded playpen to its useful condition it is only necessary to swing the closed ends of the U-shaped members 20 and 22 upwardly on plates 28, to reverse the action above described and to latch the floor members in substantially horizontal position and the linkage members 44, 52 in their inclined position wherein they latch the members 20 and 22 in the extended condition thereof. If desired, a foot treadle 62 may be utilized in order to initiate the folding action as it will be obvious that when the treadle 62 is stepped upon, the corresponding floor member 12 must pivot up about its respective bar 34 and therefore it being hingedly connected as at 14 to the member 10 also causes the latter to pivot upwardly about its corresponding member 34.

In FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 there is shown a modified type of locking linkage. In this case all the members are the same except for this locking linkage. The U-shaped members 64, 66 which are pivoted to the plates 68 correspond to the members 20, 22 and they have pivotally secured thereto links 70, 70 corresponding to those at 52. Links 70, 70 are correspondingly pivoted at 72, 72 to the upper ends of levers 74, 74 pivoted as before to the leg members '76, 76 corresponding to those at 30 and 32. However, levers 74, 74 are not slotted but are pivoted at their lower ends as at 78, 78 to links 80, 80 in turn pivoted and overlapped at 82 on the standard 84 which corresponds to that at 38. If desired, a stop 86 may be mounted on upright 84 to hold the links 80, 80 in the position shown in FIG. 7, preventing them from moving any farther in an upward direction than is shown.

In the use of this particular linkage, the playpen is folded exactly as before but the links 80, 80 turn downwardly, see arrows in FIG. 7, through the intermediate position of FIG. 8 to the final position of FIG. 9, and the reverse action is of course just the same but opposite, and it is believed that will be clearly understood from the description above given to the folding action of the playpen shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The respective modifications of the linkages are generally equivalents, and if desired different types could even be used at the ends of a single playpen as is indicated in FIGS. 1 and 4, but this condition would not normally obtain on production models.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. A playpen comprising a two-part floor, each floor part comprising one-half of the floor, said floor parts being hinged together adjacent a central dividing line of the playpen, a central standard at each end of the playpen,'said standards being located at opposite ends of said dividing line centrally of the floor, a bar connecting the standards adjacent the lower ends thereof, the combined floor parts resting on said bar in extended condition of the playpen, a pair of supporting leg members, said leg members being hingedly mounted at their upper ends to the upper ends of the standards, a cross bar at the lower portion of each leg member, said floor parts being respectively hinged to said cross bars on axes remote from the center line of the playpen, a pair of U- shaped top rail members having free-ended arms, the

arms being hinged at the free ends thereof to the upper ends of the leg members and the standards, and a locking linkage interpivoted relative to said standards, said leg members and said U-shaped top rail members, said locking linkage comprising a relatively short link pivoted to an arm of each U-shaped top rail member, a longer lever pivoted intermediate its ends to a respective supporting leg member and pivoted to a respective link at one end thereof, the opposite ends of said levers being slotted and overlapping each other, a pin fixed intermediate the ends of the standards, the pins extending through the combined slots in said levers, and said levers and links each comprising a dead center latching means for holding the U-shaped top rail members in extended horizontal condition when the floor parts are in extended horizontal condition, said U-shaped top rail members being foldable to vertical condition, the leg members being foldable to a vertical condition generally parallel with the standards.

2. The folding playpen recited in claim 1 including a handle means located in said floor members adjacent the dividing line thereof, said floor members'themselves providing a past dead center latch when extended in substantially horizontal condition and said handle members being useful to raise the adjacent edges of said floor members, breaking the dead center latching means as to the floor as well as the dead center latching means comprising the said levers and links.

3. A folding playpen as recited in claim 1 including a treadle secured to at least one of said folding floor members and adapted to initiate a raising action at the central portion thereof along the dividing line thereof.

4. A playpen comprising a two-part floor, each floor part comprising one-half of the floor, said floor parts being hinged together adjacent a central dividing line of the playpen, a central standard at each end of the playpen, said standards being located at opposite ends of said dividing line centrally of the floor, a bar connecting the standards adjacent the lower ends thereof, the combined floor parts resting on said bar in extended condition of the playpen, a pair of supporting leg members, said leg members being hingedly mounted at their upper ends to the upper ends of the standards, a cross bar at the lower portion of each leg member, said floor parts being respectively hinged to said cross bars on axes remote from the center line of the playpen, a pair of U-shaped top rail members having free-ended arms, the arms being hinged at the free ends thereof to the upper ends of the leg members and the standards, and a locking linkage interpivoted relative to said standards, said leg members and said U-shaped top rail members, said locking linkage comprising a relatively short link pivoted to an arm of each U-shaped top rail member, a longer lever pivoted intermediate its ends to a respective supporting leg member and pivoted to a respective link at one end thereof, each lever being pivoted at the opposite end thereof to another link, the latter being pivoted to the respective standard at a single pivot point, and said levers and links each comprising a dead center latching means for holding the U-shaped top rail members in extended horizontal condition when the floor parts are in extended horizontal condition, said U-shaped top rail members being foldable to vertical condition, the leg members being foldable to a vertical condition generally parallel with the standards.

5. The folding playpen recited in claim 4 including a handle means located in said floor members adjacent'the dividing line thereof, said floor members themselves providing a past dead center latch when extended in substantially horizontal condition and said handle members being useful to raise the adjacent edges of said floor members, breaking the dead center latching means as to the floor as well as the dead center latching means comprising the said lever and links.

6. A folding playpen as recited in claim 4 including a treadle secured to at least one of said folding floor members and adapted to initiate a raising action at the central portion thereof along the dividing line thereof.

7. A playpen comprising a two-part floor, the parts of the floor being hinged together adjacent a center line of the playpen, an upright standard at each end of the playpen, said standards being located at opposite ends of said center line, means on the standards supporting the floor parts in extended condition of the playpen, a pair of leg members at each end of the playpen, said leg members being pivoted at their upper ends to a plate located at the upper end of each standard, a cross bar at the lower portion of each leg member, said floor parts being respectively hinged to said cross bars, a pair of U-shaped top rail members hinged to the plates, and a locking linkage interpivoted relative to said standards, said leg members and said U-shaped top rail members, said locking linkage comprising a relatively short link pivoted to each said U-shaped top rail member, a lever pivoted intermediate its ends to a leg member, each lever being pivoted to a link at one end thereof, each lever being pivotally associated with a standard by means including a fixed pivot element on each standard.

8. The playpen of claim 7 wherein the last-named means includes a pair of swinging links on the fixed pivot element, said swinging links being pivoted to the levers.

9. The playpen of claim 7 wherein the levers are slotted, and the last-named means includes the slots, the fixed pivot element extending into both slots.

10. A playpen comprising a two-part floor, each floor part comprising one-half of the floor, said floor parts being hinged together adjacent a center line of the playpen, a central standard at each end of the playpen, said standards being located at opposite ends of said center link, a bar connecting the standards adjacent the lower ends thereof, the combined floor parts resting on said bar in extended condition of the playpen, a pair of leg members, a plate at the top of each standard, means fixedly securing the plates to the standards, said leg members being hingedly mounted at their upper ends on the respective plates, a cross bar at the lower portion of each leg, said floor parts being respectively hinged to said cross bars adjacent the edges of the floor parts remote from the center line, a pair of top rail members having freeended portions hinged to the plates, a flexible net side wall secured to the top rail members and to the floor parts, and a locking linkage interpivoted relative to said standards, said leg members and said top rail members, said locking linkage comprising a relatively short link pivoted intermediate the ends of the arms of the top rail members, a longer lever pivoted intermediate its ends to a leg member and pivoted to the respective link at corresponding ends thereof, each lever being pivotally arranged relative to a respective standard by means including a fixed pivot element on the respective standard and means providing for a combined pivotal and sliding action of the levers, and said levers and links comprising past dead center latching means for holding the top rail members in extended horizontal condition when the floor members are in extended horizontal condition.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,908,021 Fulton Oct. 13, 1959 2,989,318 Schenkman June 20, 1961 2,991,486 Hamilton July 11, 1961 

